Hi We have our home for sale, three months now no bites.. we have been looking at 5th wheelers which would be our choice for fulltiming.. Most people say get a used 1 or 2 year old because of the depreciation and all the bugs have been tested.. give me your thoughts..

Pre-owned is great as long as you do your research.There are so many options out there, too many people buy these RV's for weekend trips and only use them for a couple of times with the family.

My research has shown me, two and three year old rv's, were only used for a few vacations and that after a couple of years of non-use,they sell for whatever they can, and move on. 

Year old rv's usually come from a "spur of the moment" buy, or a buyers remorse about not buying the "bigger better one", or even worse,the owners started the RV lifestyle too late and illness forced the sale.

When buying pre-owned ,try and find out why they got rid of it, get these answers from the previous owner not the dealer (salesman have all the little ol lady stories)

Do your research, ask questions here, dont settle. Or you might get that "should of could of" feeling.

I think that buying used is definitely the smart thing to do. a lot of units are purchased on a whim and tired of after a few years, and not much real usage. The RVIA estimated that the average RV is only used 31 days a year. The most important thing is to choose a brand that is high quality and built for full time use, and not be swayed with the froo froo c**p thats flooding the market. Toward that end I would suggest that the smartest thing you could do is join the RV Consumers Group and get their books and CD's which rate all the manufacturers and models, going back 10 years. Choose carefully and you can come away with a great unit and save yourself $15 - $25,000. Good luck, Fred

thank you for the info. and i will certainly take your advice..

I began looking for a camper after a 20 hiatus. I watched the newspapers, I was online everyday looking for a good deal. I eventually found a 1995 36' Travel Supreme with a 2000 Ford F350 dually, 1-ton crew cab with 29,000 miles on it. The trailer, even though it lacks some of the new refinaries, is in very good condition and I don't believe I will need another truck unless I go to a heavier trailer when I upgrade. But my point is there are great buys in the market place if we have the patience to wait for them.

One of the benefits of buying used is the ability to get "more" coach or trailer than you could buying new. Depreciation can be used to your advantage. I have seen some awesome prices on high end Newmar and older Avion 5ers.

We bought used recently, actually a year older than the coach we owned. We did that in order to move up in horsepower, closets, room and appliances. Just remember to get the new to you vehicle checked out. For trailers, bearings and tires are important, and check for recalls on things like fridges and heaters and such.

For coaches, tires are important as well as bearing oil and previous diesel and chassis service.

Mike

As mikeway says, check your recalls. Actually you want to make sure everything works you can try. You can't trust the previous owner using everything since they might not have had a chance or not known how to use everything. A friend just bought a used motorhome which was kept immaculate by the previous owners. Unfortunately they did not do the required maintenance on it or fix everything that broke, just kept it very clean. Took a while for the dealer and the friend to get it all handled.
A story I read a few years ago has always stuck with me, especially when others chimed in with similar incidents. A guy goes to buy a used trailer from someone and asks to make sure everything works. He lights the stove and propane oven and the owner watches him closely. He finds the water pump and switches it on to make sure there is water and the owner watches him closely. After a bit of this he asks the owner what else he didn't know how to use. The owner sheepishly tells him and the guy proceeds to show the owner how those items work. The owner kept the trailer since now he knew how it worked.

bjoice too funny.. I don't blame the owner.. thanks for all the good replys

I look at RV.net a lot but have not bought anything through them.  I use it to compair prices and units that I see locally.  Because of the number of units that are listed, I figure there is a lot of info about different types and models and the age of each one.  A local dealer was showing us a 2003 hitchhiker and all of the upgrades and said the owner wanted $60k plus for it.  I looked on RV.net and they had brand new ones for not that much more and with a lot of upgrades.  Hummmm

I look at www.rvsearch.com, ww2.rvtraderonline.com, and www.rvtrader.com. I also haven't bought anything from any of those but they do have lots to compare prices with.

Thanks! That should keep me busy for a while...

Tim

Other places to look for RVs, and what they are going for, is your local paper, eBay, and Craigslist. Once you know what brand you want, look for a forum associated with that brand. It will give you a lot of people to talk to about that particular brand. Search RVNet, Irv2, and brand forums on yahoo. Happy Trails, Penny, TX

I can vouch for Craig's List.  We sold our motorhome that way, but it took about 5 months and several price adjustments!

Here's a link to the Ft. Myers, FL Craig's List:  http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/

Hi Bob,
Thanks. Tampa isn't that far away, and my wife would enjoy getting back near the sea for sure... so much so that I might have to do the looking around at Lazy Days myself while she prowls the beaches looking for shark teeth. She already has quite a collection, but none from the west coast of Florida...

I've already heard the same mixed bag about Lazy Days... but it would probably be worth a few days' trip... kind of a mini-vacation, which I could use anyway...  And sales pressure is sales pressure, no matter where you run into it...